[MIDDLEEASTEYE.NET] Some senior figures detained in last Saturday's purge in Soddy Arabia...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
were beaten and tortured so badly during their arrest or subsequent interrogations that they required hospital treatment, Middle East Eye can reveal.
People inside the royal court also told MEE that the scale of the crackdown, which has brought new arrests each day, is much bigger than Saudi authorities have admitted, with more than 500 people detained and double that number questioned.
Members of the royal family, government ministers and business tycoons were caught up in the sudden wave of arrests orchestrated by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, known as MBS, under the banner of an anti-corruption drive.
Some, but not all, of the top figures jugged
Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please!
were singled out for the most brutal treatment, suffering wounds to the body sustained by classic torture methods. There are no wounds to their faces, so they will show no physical signs of their ordeal when they next appear in public.
| ...one of the advantages -- for the torturers, at least -- of those flowy nightgowns they like to wear during the day... |
The purge, which follows an earlier roundup of Moslem holy mans, writers, economists and public figures, is creating panic in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, particularly among those associated with the old regime of King Abdullah, who died in 2015, with power then passing to his half-brother, King Salman
...either the largest species of Pacific salmon or the current Sheikh of the Burnin' Sands, Cutodian of the Two Holy Mosquesand Lord of Most of the Arabians....
Many fear the primary purpose of the crackdown is a move by MBS to knock out all rivals both inside and outside the House of Saud before he replaces his 81-year-old father.
| First there were the byzantine plots of Constantinople, then the even more elaborate plots of the Istanbul hareem. "Me and my brother against our cousin..." works out differently in the king's house. |
The crown prince’s cousin, Mohammed bin Nayef, who continues be under house arrest, has had his assets frozen, the Rooters news agency reported. Sons of Sultan bin Abdulaziz have also been arrested and had their assets frozen.